The fourth official had just signalled that five minutes of stoppage time had been added on at St James’ Park.

It was the cue for Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle to frantically raise his arms up and down on the touchline in an attempt to whip supporters up for one final push.

“Sing your hearts out for the lads,” the crowd responded.

Newcastle United were 2-1 up against Liverpool, but no one inside the stadium needed reminding of the history of this fixture, which has become synonymous with late drama.

Who could forget when Stan Collymore struck late in a 4-3 thriller at Anfield in 1996 to leave Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan slumped over the advertising hoardings?

Those memories were still clear on an evening both clubs came together to celebrate such an iconic figure.

No wonder, then, the whistles from the home supporters were deafening as Liverpool launched one final attack, which culminated in substitute Victor Munoz being brought down by a tired Lewis Hall inside the box.

Jaissle ripped off his blazer in anguish, having felt it was a “soft” decision from referee Stuart Attwell.

Such a feeling clearly informed his post-match address to his players after Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up to equalise from the spot and land a familar late blow in this 2-2 draw.

“I cannot repeat everything because I could get in trouble and may need to pay some fines,” Jaissle said in his news conference following a long pause.

“But, overall, I told them that I’m really proud of what I saw over the 90 minutes. This is a really top starting point.”

It was certainly an eventful start, just the sort of topsy turvy fixture Keegan was synonymous with during his time in charge of Newcastle.

How fitting then that the club legend’s family and several of his former players, including Alan Shearer, Rob Lee and Tino Asprilla, were among those in the directors’ box.

They watched on as supporters’ group Wor Flags unfurled a huge display before the game, which encompassed every seat in the stadium, including a timely banner in the Gallowgate End.

“I want people to dream about their football club,” it read. “They should. We should all be dreamers at heart.

“Some people are the opposite and say, ‘We can’t do that’. But when you ask them why, they can’t give a reason. Well, I say, ‘Why not?'”

Those words are still relevant.

In the last 12 months, Newcastle have lost key players in Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes while head coach Eddie Howe has also departed.

Newcastle are targeting further reinforcements, but all of the club’s signings this summer have been aged 24 and under and have never played in the Premier League before.

Noting Jaissle has also never managed in the English top flight, some pundits predicted that Newcastle would struggle from the off as a result.

Just as Jaissle recognised there were those who did not think “we can play a good role in the Premier League”, so did injured captain Dan Burn, who believes Newcastle are at their best when “it’s us against the world”,

Newcastle tapped into that and, indeed, the noise surrounding Isak’s return, which only energised the crowd further against Liverpool.

“If you have this synergy between the fans and then the players delivering on the pitch, something special can be created,” Jaissle said.

There were early glimpses of just what Jaissle’s side could be – the intensity, the balls in behind, the grit, spirit and work rate.

Few embodied those qualities quite like new arrival Amar Dedic, who only completed his £30m move from Benfica on Tuesday, but what was just as striking was the performances of one or two of last summer’s signings following difficult first seasons on Tyneside.

It was Anthony Elanga who opened the scoring against Liverpool with a well-taken finish into the bottom corner while Yoane Wissa, who set up substitute Joe Willock’s second, is clearly relishing added responsibility under Jaissle.

It said it all that Wissa, a forward, won more duels (11) than any other Newcastle player on Sunday.

“The manager expects me to be a leader and lead the group,” the 29-year-old told Sky Sports.

“He wants me to be winning balls, making sure everyone is going forward, going for the kill, and sometimes just be calm.”

Jaissle saluted Wissa’s display, even if he could not help but add he also had the chance to “kill the game” to make it 3-1.

This was Newcastle‘s achilles heel last season.

No other side dropped more points (27) from winning positions in 2025-26 and predecessor Howe was the first to admit last May that “anything can happen” after he was asked if such a habit could seep into this campaign.

Yet the reaction of those Newcastle supporters who stayed behind to applaud afterwards was telling on Sunday.

“We were there for each other if something went wrong,” Jaissle said of his players.

“We acted like a unit. In such a short amount of time, this is a top starting point and the frustration was there as well, but these are the challenges we have now.

“With the pre-season, with the transition phase, it’s normal. Today someone threw stones in the way and we need to take that out to be successful again.”